One thing that should give everyone pause who is quite rightly relieved about a just verdict in this case is how close it came to not being a case at all, with the three perps nearly succeeding in completely getting away with the blatant murder of an innocent, unarmed black man. It was two months before the arrests were made, and only because of intense pressure by the victim’s family and the public and the availability of incontrovertible video evidence.
The situation was undoubtedly exacerbated by the fact that the elder McMichael had ties to the DA’s office and was able to trigger a corrupt coverup. But that said, I think this is fundamentally a clash between modern principles of civil rights and the deeply entrenched racism of the South. I have no doubt that the three accused, and now convicted, are absolutely convinced of their role as good citizens doing the right thing to protect the community against the sort of individual whose race, in their minds, historically has been nothing but trouble. In their minds, the world has inexplicably turned against “the good guys”, and they are the victims.
There’s some shocking detail in this story, not the least of which is that the elder McMichael was at least dimly aware that the Deep South was no longer what it used to be, that he was in potential trouble, and was calling in favours with the DA’s office: